TackleTour

Was finally able to pick one up!!!

What have y’all seen it excell at in regards to applications. Just trying to see where I’m gonna fit in my line up

Nice.
What gear ratio did you get?
I've got the 7:1 on a steez frog rod.
Perfect match and really bombs a frog.

PaBass75 wrote:Nice.
What gear ratio did you get?
I've got the 7:1 on a steez frog rod.
Perfect match and really bombs a frog.

You mean 7.9:1 , right?

I have a 7.9:1 , and use it for buzzbaits. It bombs 'em.

I've got the IP68 which is the same reel. The IP might have stronger magnets but I don't know. I've used mine to skip jigs and long bomb frogs and it has done both really well. I have been impressed by the ability of this reel to do both ends of the spectrum well. The lighter weight spool mush keep the angular nomentum down because the IP is almost as well controlled at low speed as ana SV spool. I've got mine an Orochi XX PP and have been very happy with it.

I have the 6.3 and have used it for anything that I wanted a solid feel while reeling under load.

The dream is a solid feeling reel. It’s nice to look at too. My only complaint is the stock spool feels very over braked. I was rather let down by the casting distance. I know I’m not the only one who shares those feelings also. There were a few people who said the same thing in a recent discussion on another page I’m on. I bought mine with the intentions of putting it on my frog and jig rod. It did alright with with a frog but I felt it lacked distance when I had a jig tied on. A friend recently bought a dream and used it with 36-34mm spacers and a zillion 1016 sv spool. He said it was awesome!

Thanks for all the replies!!

I got the 6.3:1.

Rippin,

What other spools would you recommend to swap out to? What spools are compatible w/o using spacers?

Now I may take the plunge and finally get a TD-Ito 103.

Two of my dream reels, I may finally be able to own!

H. L. C.

nd1225 wrote:Thanks for all the replies!!

I got the 6.3:1.

Rippin,

What other spools would you recommend to swap out to? What spools are compatible w/o using spacers?

Now I may take the plunge and finally get a TD-Ito 103.

Two of my dream reels, I may finally be able to own!

Any 36mm spool will fit without spacers. The pe longcast spool is a really nice one. Distance is good and it’s controled. That’s what I ended up going with in my dream. The 100m spool made a difference in my og zillion so I would guess it would also be another good option. Unfortunately, both spools are getting tougher to find. I have no personal experience with the hlc spool but I haven’t ever heard anything bad about it. I know a lot of guys really like that spool. Ray’s studio offers a spool now too. It doesn’t hold a lot of line but I generally use #30 braid so for me it wouldn’t be an issue. I know people who have ran the 34mm spool in their Zillions without spacers and said it was fine unless it were to backlash. I’d try to hunt down the hlc spool as it might be the easiest to find. I’m currently working with a machinist on having a large quantity of 36-34mm spacers made. Nothing is 100% yet though.

nd1225 wrote:Thanks for all the replies!!

I got the 6.3:1.

Rippin,

What other spools would you recommend to swap out to? What spools are compatible w/o using spacers?

Now I may take the plunge and finally get a TD-Ito 103.

Two of my dream reels, I may finally be able to own!

The spool that is in that reel is pretty good IMO. It is much ligher weight than a standard TD Zillion spool. It may not be the longest casting spool but it casts plenty far for regular bass fishing use. I find it to be a well controlled and smooth casting spool that is great for working the bank with anything from roll casting a spinnerbait, frogs or skipping jigs and plastics. My IP68 can cast a frog farther than I can set the hook on an Orochi XX Perfect Pitch. I find the casting distance more than adequate for things I would use a TD Zillion for with the exception of deep cranks. The braking profile the reel reminded me of my Tatula SV but a little faster. The braking comes down hard at the end of the cast similar to the Tatula SV spool.

nd1225 wrote:Thanks for all the replies!!

I got the 6.3:1.

Rippin,

What other spools would you recommend to swap out to? What spools are compatible w/o using spacers?

Now I may take the plunge and finally get a TD-Ito 103.

Two of my dream reels, I may finally be able to own!

There are two HLC spools, try to find the one with the holes that came Adcock in the actual HLC reel rather than the I'ze all with the dimples. That was the recommendation when I was on the hunt for one.
I used a 100M spool in my J-Dream and liked it a lot.
The PE Special spool that comes with the blue and red 7.9 PE Special is the one to look for, although I've heard the I'ze version isn't too far behind in distance casting.

There's a thread on here about a guy retrofitting the Ray's SV inductors to older spools, the J-Dream being one of them. I made the change but haven't tried it out yet.

Rippin-lips wrote: I have no personal experience with the hlc spool but I haven’t ever heard anything bad about it. I know a lot of guys really like that spool.

http://www.tackletour.net/viewtopic.php ... 48#p636548

I have a short experience of HLC Zillion (with HLC spool and spring). That’s really some kind of experience. (I have been thinking myself as person with good skills in casting because I have used baitcasting reel for 30 years and I have fished 150 days in a year when I was most actice. Usually I cast enough long and accurate and I don’t get birdnests too often. I have learned to cast with traditional Ambassadeur and I have used 7500CS Rocket for baitcasting and I have also casted with casting tuned ambasassadeur, with no brakes, with no level wind and oils cleaned from roller bearings.) I must say that HLC Zillion that I have shortly tested is one of most uncontrollable baitcasting reel that I have ever tried. But this reel was used when I bought it, and it’s possibly that there’s something broken. (At least Magforce adjustment in this reel has very little to zero effect to cast control.) But I’m thinking to buy one or more old Zillions to get parts to swap / for more parts to test.

It's interesting b/c I have a few JDreams and they all cast fantastic - I don't think I'd change a thing about them. I have one each 7.9L, 6.3L, and 5.3L and like to use them for anything more casting (vs pitching) oriented where I'm not using an SV spool. They easily outpace the SV103's of course, but I have a couple souped up TD-Z's and OG Steez and the JDreams easily outpace them. In fact I was thinking of picking up one or two more .

I thought the HLC wasn't really considered that nice of a reel, at least not as nice as the limited release status of it would indicate - but I may be thinking of a different reel, or the "other" HLC mentioned above.